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Earliest Cucurbita from the Great Lakes, Northern USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

G. William Monaghan ,
William A. Lovis  and
Kathryn C. Egan-Bruhy
G. William Monaghan*
Affiliation:
Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University, 423 North Fess Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47408, USA
William A. Lovis
Affiliation:
MSU Museum and Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Kathryn C. Egan-Bruhy
Affiliation:
Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc., P.O. Box 1061, Minocqua, WI 54548, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 812 855 1864.E-mail address:[email protected](G.W. Monaghan).
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Abstract

Directly dated Cucurbita from archaeological sites near Lake Huron expand the range and human usage of adventive, cultivated wild gourds or squash into the Great Lakes region, USA, by 4000 14C yr BP. The data also show that domesticated C. pepo squash was cultivated there by 3000 14C yr BP. Although milder Hypsithermal climate may have been a contributing factor, squash and gourds expanded northward during the mid-Holocene mainly by human agency and may be the first human-introduced adventive plant in temperate North America. Even after 3000 14C yr BP, when domesticated squash generally replaced wild varieties at northern sites, squash stands were probably informally managed rather than intensively cultivated.

Keywords

CucurbitaSquashPlant domesticationBiogeographyFood productionGreat LakesPaleoeconomyLate ArchaicHypsithermal
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 02 , March 2006 , pp. 216 - 222
Copyright
University of Washington

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